A Covid-19 CFO Pulse survey conducted by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has revealed a sense of optimism among finance leaders about their companies’ ability to safely reopen, as Covid-19 restrictions slowly start to lift in some countries.
PwC says most businesses in Africa, similar to their global counterparts, are taking sufficient steps to provide a safe working environment for employees.
About 75% of CFOs feel very confident that they can meet customers’ safety expectations, while 70% of CFOs are also very confident that they can provide a safe working environment for employees.
The survey gathered responses from 867 CFOs across 24 countries earlier in May.
Almost half, or 49%, of CFOs are considering making remote working a permanent option where feasible and 48% of CFOs are looking at accelerating automation and other ways of working.
Particularly, CFOs in Denmark, Germany and Mexico are most likely to consider making remote working a permanent option, says PwC.
When it comes to changing supply chains, 51% of CFOs cite developing alternative sourcing options as the most pressing area, led by Africa with a 64% consensus, followed by Turkey with 63%.
In Germany and the US, CFOs are most likely to prioritise understanding the financial and operational health of their suppliers.
More than half of CFOs expect a decrease in revenues of up to 25% as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, with 81% of CFOs saying they will consider cost containment as a strategy in response to the crisis.
PwC finds that 60% of CFOs will defer or cancel planned investments with 83% of them doing so with facilities and general capital expenditure, 53% doing so with operations and 49% of them doing so with the workforce.
Further, CFOs are optimistic that their businesses can return to business as usual within three months if Covid-19 was to be completely contained, with 51% indicating so.
However, PwC says there is a growing sentiment in many territories that recovery may take much longer. For example, 33% of Africa’s CFOs believe the recovery will take six to twelve months.
Work flexibility, better resilience and agility, and technology investments have come out as the crisis-driven developments that will improve companies' prospects in the long run.
PwC will release its Africa Covid-19 CFO Pulse report in the week ending May 22.